After eight months and 21 races, the checkered flag comes down on the Formula One season at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Too bad the race means nothing, given Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have already secured the drivers’ and constructors’ championships for a record-matching fifth straight time.

If nothing else, the event gives diehards one final fix as F1 goes into hibernation for the winter before it re-emerges in Australia in March.

Between now and then, team factories will be humming with activity as designers, engineers and mechanics hole up for the secretive work of preparing for 2019.

It’s no secret, however, what the main question will be when the updated cars line up at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne: Can anyone beat the Silver Arrows?

It’s been a familiar refrain since 2014, when the “formula” in Formula One was given a major shakeup with the move to V6 turbo hybrid engines and Mercedes took a stranglehold on the series.

All told, the silver cars have accounted for 73 race wins in the last five seasons vs. 14 for Ferrari and 12 for Red Bull.

Alarmingly, no other team has scored a victory in all that time.

Montreal-born Lance Stroll is on the move after two seasons at Williams.ATB /
ATP/WENN.com

Of course, you’d be jumping the start to suggest 2019 will bring more of the same. But no one would blame you, either.

For one thing, big changes tend to come with, well, big changes. It’s easy to see how a 2014-style rewrite of the regulations might produce some surprises as all teams are forced back to the drawing board with clean sheets. But that’s not the case here.

Yes, the cars will be subject to revised technical specifications next season, including the aerodynamic profile of the front and rear wings, in an effort to allow for closer racing. But these tweaks are a precursor to a larger overhaul slated for 2021.

“Somebody might find a loophole or an innovation or understand how these cars work earlier than others,” he was quoted as saying. “We could even have teams being right up there that are not on the radar today.”

Yeah, well, we’ve heard that one before. The safe bet is Wolff won’t have to worry about the wheels falling off his cars anytime soon.

Mercedes holds another advantage: stability. While key rivals are shaking things up internally, the No. 1 team is sticking to what works — starting with its driver lineup of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

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At Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel will have a new teammate next year as rookie Charles Leclerc moves over from Sauber in a swap for veteran Kimi Raikkonen.

The organization as a whole, meanwhile, is having to adjust to life without CEO Sergio Marchionne following his sudden death in July.

Red Bull, too, is getting a new driver to partner Max Verstappen, with Pierre Gasly earning a promotion from Toro Rosso after Daniel Ricciardo’s surprise decision to join Renault.

And that isn’t even the big news at Red Bull. The team is ditching its engine partner Renault in favour of Honda next season in the hope the move will pay off in the long term.

So as Mercedes stays the course, the competition embarks on a period of transition, as the sports cliché goes. And we all know what that means.

On the subject of driver moves, Montreal-born Lance Stroll will be looking to get his career back into gear with his new team, Racing Point Force India.

Sergio Perez puts his Force India through its paces during Friday practice at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. The Mexican driver is getting a new teammate next season â Montreal’s Lance Stroll.ANDREJ ISAKOVIC /
AFP/Getty Images

Stroll had a solid rookie campaign with Williams last season, but has been unable to follow that up in a car that has gone from bad to absolute worst.

Williams resides at the bottom of the team standings, with only seven points, and the only silver lining is Stroll accounts for six of those. His best finish was an eighth place in Azerbaijan.

His move to Force India has yet to be made official, but that’s just a formality, given his billionaire father heads the group of investors that has taken over the financially troubled outfit.

In recent news reports, Stroll expressed frustration at the cynicism directed toward his privileged position, saying “I deserve more than just a mention of the money that’s behind me.”

Fair enough. Here’s hoping next season brings him a car that will allow him to do his talking on the track.

AT A GLANCE:Live coverage of qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix airs Saturday at 7:55 a.m. on TSN 5 and 7:45 a.m. on RDS. Race coverage airs Sunday at 8:05 a.m. on TSN 3, 5 and 7:50 a.m. on RDS.